Tag Archives: ARCHITECTURE

A unique retreat, I love the Redwoods Treehouse. Just imagine having a wild party there with a few of your closest friends….. it’ll be a blast!

Fine dining or simply a private party, this is one of the most striking and memorable venues in New Zealand.

The Treehouse is a striking pod-shaped structure built ten metres high in a Redwood tree near Warkworth, north of Auckland. Access to the Treehouse is provided by an elevated tree-top walkway which was built using Redwood milled on site.

By appointment of the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Foundation Snøhetta has designed an observation and information pavilion at Hjerkinn in Dovre, Norway.

The spectacular site is located on the outskirts of Dovrefjell National Park at around 1250 meters above sea level, overlooking the Snøhetta mountain massif.

Dovrefjell is home to wild reindeer herds, musk oxen, arctic foxes and a variety of endemic botanical species. A long history filled with travellers, hunting traditions, mining and military activities have left their mark on this land. Today, modern tourism and recreation continue to shape the cultural landscape of this place. Dovrefjell also holds significant importance in the consciousness of Norway. National legends, myths, poetry, music, and pilgrimages celebrate the mystic, eternal, and grounded qualities of this robust place. The founding fathers of the Norwegian constitution are “agreed and faithful, until the fall of Dovre!”

Natural, cultural and mythical landscapes form the basis of the architectural idea. The building design is based on a contrast between a rigid outer shell and a soft organic-shaped inner core. A wooden core is placed within a rectangular frame of raw steel and glass. The core is shaped like rock or ice is eroded by natural forces like wind and running water. Its shape creates a protected and warm gathering place, while still preserving visitor’s access to spectacular views.

Considerable emphasis is put on the quality and durability of materials so that the building can withstand the harsh climate. The shelter’s simple form and use of natural building materials reference local building traditions. And at the same time, new technologies will be utilized to bring modern efficiency to the fabrication process. The wood core will be manufactured using a large scale robot-controlled milling machine based on digital 3D models.

Tverrfjellhytta is a robust building that refines local building traditions, provides a protected gathering place for the visitors and enriches the unique landscape of Dovrefjell.

!How to transform a barren piece of land on an island in the middle of the Finnish archipelago into an easy living outdoorsy summer compound? A place that can also withstand winter storms off the frozen Baltic sea, snow, and marauding moose?

The Finnish archipelago from the air. Oh, which island to choose…

Finally! We found the perfect island!

Admiring the view from our slice of Heaven

The little boat that could….Buster doing another trip to the island

M the handyman proud of the foundations he laid….

Because we are so incredibly impatient, and couldn’t wait another summer for a building team, we decided to go with a kit house. I love the Finnish sensibility, how buildings should be simple and functional, natural materials, and as green as possible. The house was put up in 6 days, and finishing took another 3 months. Now, furnishing it, on the other hand, will take a lifetime!

Did someone order a delivery?

More deliveries….

Will the deliveries ever end?

Construction begins on the kit house!

Work on the Sauna house begins. The two wonderful Finnish builders that built the Sauna house, all by themselves, in two days, by working through the night without breaks…..now that’s good work ethics!

The Sauna house

I’ve decided I’d rather turn the bedroom in the sauna house into a spa room, with glass fronted cupboards filled with every lotion, potion and scented candle known to man. There will be a fireplace in the room, and I’m upholstering the beds with loose towelling covers, so they will be more like chaises you can lounge on after you’ve had your sauna and are scrubbing yourself and have a hair mask on, relaxing in front of the fire with fragranced candles lit! Then I can just put sheets on the beds if we have to use it as a bedroom – I mean, realistically, how often are we going to have 8 people staying? So my spa room it’ll be! Now, I’m working on M to add a deck behind the sauna house with an outside bathroom – meaning: free-standing tub! We have the hot tub beneath the house, but that’s turned out to be rather a lot of work, pumping water up from the sea and then spending HOURS heating it – a bit of a white elephant, if you ask me – but I WANTED it, should’ve know better. At least it looks nice. I think a bathtub standing outside, hidden behind a screen and with a big ol mirror leaning against a wall, outside fireplace, and dare I say it, even a chandelier in the tree, sounds like my idea of heaven. Obviously, M’s not that keen – all that nonsense about not interfering with nature – gmff – but I can be persistent if I have to (or, the term better known by men around the world, NAG), so we’ll see if I can win this battle! You will get to see the end result later!

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